Medicinal-liquid Administering device

ABSTRACT

A medicinal device includes a first member; and a second member configured to be attachable to and detachable from the first member, the second member being a part of a medicinal-liquid administering device and including: a first member comprising a first-member-side power transmission part, and a second member comprising a second-member-side power transmission part; wherein the first-member-side power transmission part and the second-member-side power transmission part are configured to be engaged with each other for administering medicinal liquid into a living body; and wherein the second member is configured to open a housing covering the first-member-side power transmission part to engage the second-member-side power transmission part with the first-member-side power transmission part at a time of attaching the first member to the second member.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a bypass continuation of PCT Application No.PCT/JP2016/077715, filed on Sep. 20, 2016, which claims priority toJapanese Application No. 2015-188283, filed on Sep. 25, 2015. Thecontents of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a portable medicinal-liquidadministering device that continuously or intermittently administersmedicinal liquid filled in a medicinal liquid container into a livingbody by pressing a pressing member, which is operated by driving forcefrom a driving source, toward the medicinal liquid.

For example, JP 2010-535057 A discloses a medicinal-liquid administeringdevice in FIGS. 17a and 17b, which includes a reusable part, and adisposable part that is attachable to and detachable from the reusablepart. The reusable part of the medicinal-liquid administering deviceincludes a reusable-side threaded part to which driving force from adriving source is transmitted. The disposable part includes adisposable-side threaded part that meshes with the reusable-sidethreaded part when the disposable part is attached to the reusable part,and transmits, to a plunger rod, the driving force transmitted from thedriving source to the reusable-side threaded part.

SUMMARY

However, because the medicinal-liquid administering device describedabove is configured such that a reusable-side power transmission part(reusable-side threaded part) is exposed outward when the disposablepart is unattached to the reusable part, foreign matter such as grit anddust may adhere to the reusable-side power transmission part. With theforeign matter adhered to the reusable-side power transmission part, thedriving force from the driving source may fail to be transmitted to apressing member (plunger rod) effectively.

Certain embodiments described herein have been developed inconsideration of such a problem, and it is one object of certainembodiments to provide a medicinal-liquid administering deviceconfigured to inhibit adhesion of foreign matter onto the reusable-sidepower transmission part when the disposable part is unattached to thereusable part.

In one embodiment, a medicinal-liquid administering device is a portablemedicinal-liquid administering device for continuously or intermittentlyadministering medicinal liquid filling a medicinal liquid container intoa living body by pressing, toward the medicinal liquid, a pressingmember to be operated by driving force from a driving source, themedicinal-liquid administering device including: a reusable part that isreusable; and a disposable part that is provided to beattachable/detachable to/from the reusable part and is disposable,wherein the reusable part includes: the driving source; a reusable-sidepower transmission part to which the driving force from the drivingsource is transmitted; a housing that houses the reusable-side powertransmission part and is provided with an opening part partiallyexposing the reusable-side power transmission part; an openable/closablecover part provided at the opening part of the housing; and a pushingmember that pushes the cover part into a closed state, the disposablepart includes: the medicinal liquid container; the pressing member; adisposable-side power transmission part that engages with thereusable-side power transmission part upon attachment of the reusablepart and the disposable part and transmits, to the pressing member, thedriving force transmitted from the driving source to the reusable-sidepower transmission part; and a contact part capable of contacting thecover part, and the cover part contacts the contact part to be openedand maintained in an opened state while resisting pushing force of thepushing member when the disposable part is attached to the reusablepart, and the cover part is closed to block the opening part by thepushing force of the pushing member when the disposable part is detachedfrom the reusable part.

According to such a configuration, because the openable/closable coverpart is provided at the opening part of the housing that houses thereusable-side power transmission part, adhesion of foreign matter ontothe reusable-side power transmission part can be inhibited when thedisposable part is unattached to the reusable part. Moreover, at thetime of attaching the disposable part to the reusable part, the coverpart contacts the contact part to be opened while resisting the pushingforce of the pushing member, and maintains the opened state.Accordingly, a user is not required to hold the cover part in the openedstate with fingers or the like, when attaching the reusable part to thedisposable part. The disposable-side power transmission part can betherefore easily and securely engaged with the reusable-side powertransmission part without the need of complicated work. Furthermore,because the cover part is automatically closed by the pushing force ofthe pushing member when the disposable part is detached from thereusable part, the user is not required to close the cover part withfingers or the like. Therefore, adhesion of foreign matter onto thereusable-side power transmission part can be inhibited without the needof a complicated procedure.

In the medicinal-liquid administering device described above, the coverpart may be rotatably mounted on the housing via a shaft. The pushingmember may push the cover part into the closed state by applying thepushing force to the cover part along a circumferential direction of theshaft.

According to such a configuration, it becomes possible to push the coverpart into the closed state with a simple configuration.

In the medicinal-liquid administering device described above, thereusable-side power transmission part may include an output gear thatrotates by the driving force from the driving source. The output gearmay be partially exposed outside of the housing via the opening partwhen the cover part is in the opened state. The disposable-side powertransmission part may include an input gear that can mesh with theoutput gear.

According to such a configuration, the driving force of thereusable-side power transmission part can be transmitted to thedisposable-side power transmission part effectively by the input gearmeshing with the output gear.

In the medicinal-liquid administering device described above, thereusable part may include an attachment part to which the housing isattached and that covers the disposable part. The shaft may be locatedon the side closer to the attachment part than the opening part. Thecover part may open toward the attachment part side when the disposablepart is attached to the reusable part.

According to such a configuration, the cover part can be securely openedwhen the disposable part is attached to the reusable part.

In the medicinal-liquid administering device described above, an axis ofthe shaft may be located at, in an aligning direction in which theoutput gear and the input gear align in the attached state, the sameposition as the rotation axis of the output gear or the side opposite tothe side where the input gear is located in the attached state withrespect to the rotation axis of the output gear. A portion of the coverpart that contacts the contact part first when the disposable part isattached to the reusable part may be located on, in the aligningdirection, the same side where the input gear is located in the attachedstate with respect to the rotation axis of the output gear.

According to such a configuration, the cover part can be easily openedat the time of attaching the disposable part to the reusable part.

In the medicinal-liquid administering device described above, thedisposable-side power transmission part includes a rotation shaft thatis coaxially provided relative to the input gear and a bearing thatrotatably supports the rotation shaft. The contact part may be providedon the bearing.

According to such a configuration, the disposable part can be simplyconfigured.

In the medicinal-liquid administering device described above, thepushing member may be a torsion spring that includes a coil and a pairof extended end parts extending from the coil. The shaft may be providedin an internal hole of the coil. One of the extended end parts may belocked to the housing. The other one of the extended end parts may belocked to the cover part.

According to such a configuration, the pushing member can be simplyconfigured.

In the medicinal-liquid administering device described above, the coverpart may be pushed onto the wall surface of the housing by the pushingforce of the pushing member, when the cover part is in the closed state.

According to such a configuration, adhesion of foreign matter onto thereusable-side power transmission part can be securely inhibited.

According to certain embodiment described herein, because theopenable/closable cover part is provided at the opening part of thehousing that houses the reusable-side power transmission part, adhesionof foreign matter onto the reusable-side power transmission part can beinhibited when the disposable part is unattached to the reusable part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a medicinal-liquidadministering device according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of a disposable part ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is an enlarged perspective view of a driving part of FIG. 1.FIG. 3B is an enlarged perspective view of the driving part of FIG. 3Awith a cover part opened.

FIG. 4 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view of the cover partcontacting a contact part when the disposable part is attached to areusable part.

FIG. 5 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view of the cover part ofFIG. 4 starting to open.

FIG. 6A is a first explanatory view explaining a positioning action ofthe medicinal-liquid administering device of FIG. 5. FIG. 6B is a secondexplanatory view further explaining the positioning action.

FIG. 7 is a partially omitted cross-sectional view of the disposablepart completely attached to the reusable part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, a medicinal-liquid administering device according tocertain embodiments will be described with a suitable embodiment withreference to the attached drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a medicinal-liquid administering device 10 accordingto the present embodiment is a portable medicinal-liquid administeringdevice 10 that continuously or intermittently administers medicinalliquid, which fills a tubular body 20, into a living body under apressing action of a plunger 22. The medicinal-liquid administeringdevice 10 is configured as a patch-type insulin pump. However, themedicinal-liquid administering device 10 is not limited to the patchtype, but may be a tube type or the like.

The medicinal-liquid administering device 10 includes a disposable part12 that is disposable, and a reusable part 14 that is reusable. Thedisposable part 12 includes a base part (disposable part main body) 16having a flat-box shape with one side (Z2 direction) opened. The basepart 16 is substantially rectangular in planar view, and isattachable/detachable to/from a cradle (not shown). Note that the cradleis a holder (holding member), which can be pasted onto the skin of auser (patient).

As shown in FIG. 2, the cradle like this is provided with a cannulamechanism 18 having a cannula. The cannula mechanism 18 is unattached tothe cradle in the initial state, while being supported by a needlingmechanism (not shown). When the needling mechanism is operated, thecannula mechanism 18 including the cannula moves toward the living body,whereby the cannula punctures the living body and the cannula mechanism18 is fixed (attached) to the cradle.

The disposable part 12 includes a tubular body (medicinal liquidcontainer) 20 to be filled with medicinal liquid, a plunger (pressingmember) 22 provided in the tubular body 20, a disposable-side powertransmission part 24, and a battery 26.

The tubular body 20 is provided on the base part 16, extending in acylindrical shape along a longitudinal direction (X direction) of thebase part 16. The outer diameter and the inner diameter of a distal-endpart (X1-direction end part) of the tubular body 20 are reduced toward adistal end. At the distal-end part of the tubular body 20 like this, alead-in port 28 (see FIG. 1) for leading the medicinal liquid into thetubular body 20 and a lead-out port 30 for leading the medicinal liquidout from the tubular body 20 are formed. A lumen of a lead-out tube 32,which leads the medicinal liquid in the tubular body 20 to the cannula,communicates with the lead-out port 30.

The plunger 22 is integrally molded by using a resin material or thelike and is provided in the tubular body 20 to be liquid-tightlyslidable along the axis direction of the tubular body 20. The plunger 22includes a plunger main body 34, which constitutes a distal-end side,and a pusher 36, which is provided on the plunger main body 34 andconstitutes a rear-end side. A pair of packings 38 is attached to thecylindrical rear-end side of the plunger main body 34.

The pusher 36 includes a pair of leg parts 40 extending rearward (X2direction) from the plunger main body 34 to the outside of the tubularbody 20, and a pair of claw parts 42 provided at rear-end parts of theleg parts 40. The leg parts 40 are provided along a short-side direction(Y direction) of the base part 16 while being spaced apart from eachother.

The disposable-side power transmission part 24 includes a feed screwshaft 44 coaxially disposed with respect to the plunger 22, a nut part46 screwed together with the feed screw shaft 44, a rotation shaft 48integrally rotatably locked to the feed screw shaft 44, and a input gear50 secured to the rotation shaft 48. One end part (X1-direction endpart) of the feed screw shaft 44 is pivotally supported by a bearing 52.

The nut part 46 is integrally molded by using a resin material or thelike and includes a nut-part main body 54 formed in substantially arectangular parallelepiped shape and a slide part 56 provided in thenut-part main body 54. In the nut-part main body 54, a screw hole 58 anda pair of through holes 60 are provided. The screw hole 58 is screwed bythe feed screw shaft 44. The through holes 60 are formed on both sidesof the screw hole 58 in the Y direction, and the claw parts 42 areinserted into the through holes 60. A reinforcing cover 62 formed of,for example, a metal material or the like is attached to the outersurface of the nut part 46.

The slide part 56 slides with respect to a guide wall 64, which isprovided on the bottom surface of the base part 16 and is extended alongthe axis direction of the plunger 22. More specifically, the nut part 46before use is at an initial position that is not in contact with theplunger 22. The nut part 46 moves from the initial position under arotary action of the feed screw shaft 44, contacts the plunger 22, andpresses the plunger 22 to the distal-end side. Note that FIGS. 1 and 2show the medicinal-liquid administering device 10 before use.

The rotation shaft 48 is coaxially coupled to the other end(X2-direction end part) of the feed screw shaft 44 to be integrallyrotatable. One end of the rotation shaft 48 is pivotally supported by abearing 66, and the other end of the rotation shaft 48 is pivotallysupported by a bearing 68.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bearing 66 is a plate member havingsubstantially a rectangular shape extending in the Z2 direction from thebottom surface of the base part 16. A shaft hole 70, in which therotation shaft 48 is provided, is formed in the bearing 66 at a positionthat is slightly shifted in the Z2 direction (side opposite to thebottom surface of the base part 16) from the center in the extendeddirection (Z direction). The shaft hole 70 passes through both sides ofthe bearing 66 and opens in the Y2 direction.

A distal-end surface 66 a of the bearing 66, which is oriented in the Z2direction, is located further in the Z2 direction than the input gear50, while extending substantially in parallel to the bottom surface ofthe base part 16. Moreover, the distal-end surface 66 a is continued toa side surface 66 c of the bearing 66, which is oriented in the Y1direction, via a convex curved surface 66 b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bearing 66 is provided integrally with a rib 72protruding from the bottom surface of the base part 16 in the Z2direction. With this configuration, rigidity of the bearing 66 can beincreased. The rib 72 is substantially L-shaped in planar view, andincludes a first wall 74 extending in the X1 direction from the bearing66 and a second wall 76 extending in the Y2 direction from theX1-direction end part of the first wall 74. Note that a dimension of thefirst wall 74 in the Z direction (direction orthogonal to the bottomsurface of the base part 16) is set to be substantially the samedimension of the bearing 66 in the Z direction (see FIG. 4).

The input gear 50 has a rotation axis Ax1 along the X direction. Theinput gear 50 is configured as, but not limited to, a spur gear. Inother words, the input gear 50 may be configured as, for example, ahelical gear.

As shown in FIG. 1, the reusable part 14 includes a cover body (reusablepart main body) 78 attachable/detachable to/from the base part 16, and adriving part 80 formed to be movable along the Y direction with respectto the cover body 78. The cover body 78 is substantiallyrectangular-shaped in planar view, and attached to the base part 16 suchthat the opening part of the base part 16, which is oriented in the Z2direction, is blocked. An attachment part 78 a of the cover body 78,which covers the disposable part 12, is provided with a plurality (twoin the example of FIG. 1) of bosses 84 screwed by a screw member 82,which is used to attach the driving part 80 to the attachment part 78 a.

The driving part 80 includes a motor 86 serving as a driving source, areusable-side power transmission part 88 to which driving force from themotor 86 is transmitted, a housing (supporting member) 90 for housingthe reusable-side power transmission part 88, an openable/closable coverpart 92 provided at an opening part 100 (see FIG. 3B) formed on thehousing 90, and a pushing member 94 for pushing the cover part 92 intothe closed state.

The motor 86 is secured to the housing 90, and can be electricallycoupled to the battery 26 when the disposable part 12 is attached to thereusable part 14 (attached state). That is, the motor 86 is driven bypower from the battery 26 of the disposable part 12.

As shown in FIGS. 3A to 4, the reusable-side power transmission part 88includes an output gear 96 that is meshed (engaged) with the input gear50 of the disposable-side power transmission part 24 in the attachedstate. The output gear 96 has a rotation axis Ax2 along the X direction.More specifically, the rotation axis Ax2 of the output gear 96 and therotation axis Ax1 of the input gear 50 are positioned in parallel in theattached state (see FIG. 7). The output gear 96 is configured as, butnot limited to, a spur gear. In other words, the output gear 96 may beconfigured as, for example, a helical gear. A deceleration mechanism 98(see FIG. 3B) is provided on the power transmission path between themotor 86 and the output gear 96.

The housing 90 is adjacently located in the Y2 direction from thebearing 66 in the attached state (see FIG. 7). The housing 90 includes afirst casing member 102, where the opening part 100 for partiallyexposing the output gear 96 is formed, and a second casing member 104attached to the first casing member 102. The second casing member 104 isprovided with a plurality (two in the examples shown in, for example,FIG. 3A) of hole parts 106 into which the boss 84 of the cover body 78can be inserted.

The hole part 106 is a long hole extending along the Y direction(aligning direction of the input gear 50 and the output gear 96 in theattached state). Accordingly, as seen in FIG. 4, a predeterminedclearance along the Y direction is formed between the inner surface ofthe hole part 106 and the boss 84 when the boss 84 is inserted into thehole part 106. Moreover, the screw member 82 is screwed in the boss 84,which is inserted into the hole part 106 of the second casing member104, through a washer 108 in contact with the inner surface of thesecond casing member 104. In this manner, the housing 90 is mounted onthe cover body 78 while being movable along the Y direction.

The cover part 92 is provided openably/closably at the opening part 100of the first casing member 102. The cover part 92 includes a shaft 112and a cover part main body 114. The shaft 112 is provided in a groove110 of the second casing member 104. The cover part main body 114 isrotatably provided on the shaft 112 and is capable of blocking theopening part 100. The shaft 112 is located on the side closer to theattachment part 78 a than the opening part 100. An axis Ax3 of the shaft112 is located on, in the aligning direction (Y direction), the sideopposite to the input gear 50 (Y2 direction) in the attached state withrespect to the rotation axis Ax2 of the output gear 96.

The cover part main body 114 includes a tubular part 116, a plate part118, a circular arc part 120, and an extension part 122. The tubularpart 116 has an internal hole into which the shaft 112 is inserted. Theplate part 118 is extended from the tubular part 116 in a straight line.The circular arc part 120 is formed on the distal-end part of the platepart 118 while being extended in substantially a semicircular arc shapealong the output gear 96. The extension part 122 is extended from theX1-direction end part of the circular arc part 120 to the side oppositeto the tubular part 116.

The distal-end surface of the circular arc part 120 is in contact with afirst region 124 of the outer surface of the first casing member 102when the cover part 92 is in the closed state. The extension part 122has a longitudinal section shape as if a complete circle is cut along achord shorter than its diameter. The extension part 122 has an arc-likecurved surface 126 on the interior side, and a flat surface 128 on theexterior side. The curved surface 126 is in contact with a second region130 of the outer surface of the first casing member 102, which ispositioned in the Y1 direction with respect to the first region 124 whenthe cover part 92 is in the closed state.

More specifically, in the closed state, the wall surface of the housing90 (first region 124 and second region 130) keeps on pushing the coverpart 92 by the pushing force of the pushing member 94. Therefore,adhesion of foreign matter onto the output gear 96 can be securelyinhibited when the disposable part 12 is unattached to the reusable part14.

Moreover, a portion of the extension part 122 that contacts the contactpart 132 first at the time of attaching the disposable part 12 to thereusable part 14 (distal-end part 126 a of the extension part 122) islocated on, in the attached state, the same side where the input gear 50is located (Y1 direction) with respect to the rotation axis Ax2 of theoutput gear 96. Note that the distal-end part 126 a of the extensionpart 122 protrudes outward from the flat surface 128.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the pushing member 94 pushes the cover part92 into the closed state, while being configured as a torsion spring 95that includes a coil 95 a and a pair of extended end parts 95 b and 95 cextending from the coil 95 a. The shaft 112 is provided in the internalhole of the coil 95 a. The extended end part 95 b is locked to thesecond casing member 104, and the other extended end part 95 c is lockedto the outer surface of the plate part 118 constituting the cover partmain body 114. In this manner, the configuration of the pushing member94 can be simplified because the pushing member 94 is configured as thetorsion spring 95 according to the present embodiment.

However, the pushing member 94 may be constituted by spring membersother than the torsion spring, rubber members, or the like. In otherwords, the pushing member 94 may employ any configuration as long aspushing force can be applied to the cover part 92 so that the cover part92 is pushed to become the closed state.

In the driving part 80 like this, the distal-end surface 66 a and thecurved surface 66 b of the bearing 66 of the disposable part 12 (thedistal-end surface 66 a and the curved surface 66 b are collectivelycalled the contact part 132) contact the cover part 92 formed on thereusable part 14, at the time of attaching the disposable part 12 to thereusable part 14. Subsequently, the cover part 92 opens toward the sidewhere the attachment part 78 a is located and is maintained in theopened state while resisting the pushing force of the pushing member 94(see FIGS. 4 to 7). When the disposable part 12 is detached from thereusable part 14, the cover part 92 moves such that the opening part 100is blocked by the pushing force of the pushing member 94, and the coverpart 92 enters the closed state. More specifically, the cover part 92automatically shifts from the closed state to the opened state when thedisposable part 12 is attached to the reusable part 14, whileautomatically shifts from the opened state to the closed state by thepushing force of the pushing member 94 when the disposable part 12 isdetached from the reusable part 14.

As shown in FIGS. 3A to 4, the driving part 80 further includes an armpart 134 and a protrusion part 136. The arm part 134 is formed such thatthe second casing member 104 is extended in the Y1 direction (side wherethe bearing 66 is located in the attached state) from a region adjacentto the cover part 92 in the X1 direction. The protrusion part 136protrudes in the Z1 direction (direction opposite to the attachment part78 a) from the end part of the arm part 134 in the X2 direction. Theprotrusion part 136 is extended along the Y direction throughout thewhole length of the arm part 134. That is, the protrusion part 136 isintegrally formed with respect to the second casing member 104.

A distal-end surface (Z1-direction end surface) of the protrusion part136 is provided with a positioning recess part (reusable-sidepositioning part) 140, in which a positioning projection part(disposable-side positioning part) 138 as a distal-end part of the firstwall 74 of the disposable part 12 can be inserted (engaged).

The positioning recess part 140 is provided to position the output gear96 of the reusable part 14 in an appropriate meshing position to bemeshed with the input gear 50 of the disposable part 12, in corporationwith the positioning projection part 138, at the time of attaching thedisposable part 12 to the reusable part 14. The positioning recess part140 is a hole (slit) opened on both sides in the X direction of theprotrusion part 136. As shown in FIG. 6A, the positioning recess part140 includes a position fixing part 140 a and a guiding part 140 b. Anopening width of the position fixing part 140 a (opening dimension inthe Y direction) is constant (opening width W1) from the bottom surfaceto the intermediate position in the Z direction. An opening width of theguiding part 140 b is gradually widened in the Z1 direction, from theintermediate position toward the opening part in the Z1 direction.

Specifically, the guiding part 140 b includes taper surfaces 142 formedon the end parts in the Z1 direction of the opposing walls constitutingthe positioning recess part 140. The opening width of the positioningrecess part 140 is gradually widened in the Z1 direction. The openingwidth W1 of the positioning recess part 140 is similar to or slightlywider than a width W2 of the positioning projection part 138 (see FIG.6A).

In the reusable part 14 like this, a movable range of the housing 90 isset such that the positioning projection part 138 and the positioningrecess part 140 face each other when the disposable part 12 is attachedto the reusable part 14.

The medicinal-liquid administering device 10 according to the presentembodiment is basically configured in the above-described manner, andoperations and working effects thereof will be described next.

First, the user takes out the disposable part 12 from a packagingcontainer. In this state, the tubular body 20 of the disposable part 12is not filled with the medicinal liquid, and the nut part 46 is at theinitial position that is not in contact with the plunger 22 (see FIG.2). Note that the cover part 92 of the reusable part 14 in the initialstate is maintained in the closed state by the pushing force of thepushing member 94. Therefore, adhesion of foreign matter such as gritand dust onto the reusable-side power transmission part 88 (output gear96), which is housed in the housing 90, can be inhibited.

Then, the user adjusts the position of the plunger 22 with respect tothe tubular body 20 within the disposable part 12, and fills the tubularbody 20 with an appropriate amount of medicinal liquid from a medicinalliquid container such as a vial in which the medicinal liquid is storedin a hermetically sealed manner. The user then attaches the disposablepart 12 to the reusable part 14. Specifically, the user brings thereusable part 14 and the disposable part 12 close to each other in the Zdirection to join the parts together.

As shown in FIG. 4, the distal-end part 126 a of the extension part 122of the cover part 92, formed on the reusable part 14, contacts thedistal-end surface 66 a (contact part 132) of the bearing 66, formed onthe disposable part 12, at the beginning of joining the reusable part 14and the disposable part 12. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, when the reusablepart 14 and the disposable part 12 continue to be brought close to eachother, the curved surface 126 of the cover part 92 slides on thedistal-end surface 66 a of the bearing 66, formed on the disposable part12, in the Y1 direction so that the cover part 92 rotates on the shaft112 while resisting the pushing force of the pushing member 94. In otherwords, the cover part 92 starts to open.

When the reusable part 14 and the disposable part 12 further continue tobe brought close to each other, the curved surface 126 of the cover part92 contacts the curved surface 66 b of the bearing 66 so that the coverpart 92 opens further, making a part of the output gear 96 exposedoutside of the housing 90 via the opening part 100.

In association with the joining operation of the reusable part 14 andthe disposable part 12, the positioning projection part (disposable-sidepositioning part) 138 is inserted into the positioning recess part(reusable-side positioning part) 140. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6Ato 7, the positioning projection part 138 contacts one of the tapersurfaces 142 of the guiding part 140 b so that the taper surface 142 ispushed by the positioning projection part 138 in the Y direction (Y2direction in the example of FIG. 6A). The housing 90 thus relativelymoves in the Y direction with respect to the cover body 78 and thedisposable part 12, and the positioning projection part 138 is insertedinto the position fixing part 140 a. Accordingly, the output gear 96 ispositioned in the Y direction relative to the input gear 50.

Subsequently, the reusable part 14 and the disposable part 12 are joinedto be integrated. At this time, the curved surface 126 of the cover part92 contacts the curved surface 66 b (contact part 132) of the bearing66, thereby maintaining the cover part 92 in the opened state. Theoutput gear 96 is thus securely meshed with the input gear 50 at theappropriate meshing position (engaging position). Therefore, the drivingforce of the reusable-side power transmission part 88 can be transmittedto the disposable-side power transmission part 24 effectively. Moreover,the motor 86 of the reusable part 14 is electrically coupled to thebattery 26 of the disposable part 12 because the reusable part 14 andthe disposable part 12 are joined together.

The user carries out priming of the medicinal-liquid administeringdevice 10 after the reusable part 14 is joined to the disposable part 12with the tubular body 20 filled with the medicinal liquid, therebyfilling the whole discharging path for the medicinal liquid from thetubular body 20 through the lumen of the lead-out tube 32. First, thenut part 46 advances, from the initial position where the plunger 22 isnot in contact therewith, to engage with the plunger 22. Then, the nutpart 46 further advances, whereby the plunger 22 advances inside thetubular body 20 to discharge the medicinal liquid. Specifically, aremote controller (not shown) is operated to rotationally drive themotor 86. As a result, the rotary driving force of the motor 86 istransmitted to the reusable-side power transmission part 88 and thedisposable-side power transmission part 24. Therefore, the feed screwshaft 44 is rotated, and the nut part 46 advances from the initialposition toward the plunger 22 while sliding on the guide wall 64 (seeFIGS. 1 and 2).

In more detail, the nut part 46 advances, by the rotary drive of themotor 86, to reach the distal-end side of the plunger 22 when the nutpart 46 is engaged with the plunger 22. The pair of claw parts 42 thenabuts the wall surfaces constituting the through holes 60 of the nutpart 46, and the pair of leg parts 40 is warped to get close to eachother. Then, when the claw parts 42 go through the through holes 60, theclaw parts 42 return to the original positions, thereby locking the nutpart 46 with respect to the plunger 22. As a result, the nut part 46,when advancing, can press the plunger 22 to advance inside the tubularbody 20 to the distal-end direction. When the nut part 46 is caused tofurther advance by the rotary drive of the motor 86, the medicinalliquid in the tubular body 20 is pressed by the plunger 22 so that themedicinal liquid is discharged from the lumen of the lead-out tube 32.In this way, the medicinal liquid is pressed by driving the motor 86 andthe whole discharging path for the medicinal liquid is filled with themedicinal liquid, thereby completing the priming.

Subsequently, the user pastes the cradle (not shown) at a site of theskin for injecting the medicinal liquid. As described above, the cradlecan be attached/detached to/from the base part 16 of the disposable part12, and includes the needling mechanism. The living body is punctured byusing the needling mechanism, and the cannula mechanism 18 is fixed tothe cradle while the cannula is indwelled in the living body. When thedisposable part 12 joined to the reusable part 14 is attached to thecradle thereafter, the lead-out tube 32 formed on the disposable part 12communicates with the cannula mechanism 18 formed on the cradle. Asdescribed above, when the medicinal-liquid administering device 10 ispasted to the user's skin, the tubular body 20 containing the medicinalliquid, which is formed on the reusable part 14, communicates with theinside of the living body from the cradle, through the lead-out port 30,the lead-out tube 32, the cannula mechanism 18, and the cannula.Moreover, the reusable-side power transmission part 88 and thedisposable-side power transmission part 24 are configured to transmitthe driving force. Furthermore, the motor 86 provided on the reusablepart 14 is electrically joined to the battery provided on the disposablepart 12. Thus, the medicinal liquid stored in the tubular body 20 iscontinuously or intermittently administered into the living body bydriving the motor 86 to press the plunger 22.

When the medicinal liquid administration is completed, the user detachesthe joining the disposable part 12 and the reusable part 14 from thecradle, and then separates the disposable part 12 from the reusable part14. The cover part 92 formed on the reusable part 14 is thenautomatically closed by the pushing force of the pushing member 94. As aresult, adhesion of foreign matter onto the output gear 96(reusable-side power transmission part 88) can be inhibited.

According to the present embodiment, because the openable/closable coverpart 92 is provided at the opening part 100 of the housing 90 thathouses the reusable-side power transmission part 88, adhesion of foreignmatter onto the reusable-side power transmission part 88 can beinhibited when the reusable part 14 and the disposable part 12 are notjoined together.

Moreover, when the disposable part 12 is attached to the reusable part14, the cover part 92 contacts the contact part 132 to be opened whileresisting the pushing force of the pushing member 94, and maintains theopened state. Accordingly, the user is not required to hold the coverpart 92 in the opened state with fingers or the like, at the time ofattaching the reusable part 14 to the disposable part 12. The input gear50 can be therefore easily and securely meshed (engaged) with the outputgear 96 without the need of complicated work.

Furthermore, because the cover part 92 is automatically closed by thepushing force of the pushing member 94 at the time of detaching thedisposable part 12 from the reusable part 14, the user is not requiredto close the cover part 92 with fingers or the like. Therefore, adhesionof foreign matter onto the reusable-side power transmission part 88 canbe inhibited without the need of complicated work.

In the present embodiment, the cover part 92 includes the shaft 112formed on the second casing member 104 and the cover part main body 114that is rotatably provided on the shaft 112 and is capable of blockingthe opening part 100 of the first casing member 102. Moreover, thepushing member 94 pushes the cover part 92 into the closed state byapplying the pushing force to the cover part main body 114 along thecircumferential direction of the shaft 112. Therefore, the cover part 92can be pushed to become the closed state with a simple configuration.

In the present embodiment, the shaft 112 is located on the side closerto the attachment part 78 a than the opening part 100 of the housing 90.The cover part 92 opens toward the attachment part 78 a side when thedisposable part 12 is attached to the reusable part 14. Accordingly, thecover part 92 can be securely opened at the time of attaching thedisposable part 12 to the reusable part 14.

Moreover, the axis Ax3 of the shaft 112 (rotation axis of the cover part92) is located in the Y2 direction with respect to the rotation axis Ax2of the output gear 96. A portion of the cover part 92 that contacts thecontact part 132 first (distal-end part 126 a of the extension part 122)is located in the Y1 direction with respect to the rotation axis Ax2 ofthe output gear 96. Accordingly, the cover part 92 can be easily openedat the time of attaching the disposable part 12 to the reusable part 14.

In the present embodiment, the disposable part 12 can be simplyconfigured because the contact part 132 is provided on the bearing 66 ofthe disposable part 12.

The medicinal-liquid administering device 10 according to the presentembodiment is not limited to the configurations described above. Forexample, the contact part 132 may be provided on the bearing 68 or theside wall of the base part 16. The cover part 92 is not limited to theconfiguration in which the cover part main body 114 rotates with respectto the shaft 112 to open/close the cover part 92, but can be otherconfigurations. For example, the cover part 92 may be opened/closed bysliding in the X direction. The battery 26 may be provided on thereusable part 14 instead of the disposable part 12.

Moreover, the cover part 92 may be configured such that the shaft 112 isrotatably provided with respect to the housing 90, and also the tubularpart 116 is secured to the shaft 112. Furthermore, the axis Ax3 of theshaft 112 may be, in the Y direction, at the same position as therotation axis Ax2 of the output gear 96.

It is apparent that the medicinal-liquid administering device accordingto the present invention is not limited to the embodiments describedabove and can employ various configurations without departing from thegist of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable medicinal-liquid administering devicefor administering a medicinal liquid from a medicinal liquid containerinto a living body, the medicinal-liquid administering devicecomprising: a reusable part comprising: a driving source configured toprovide a driving force for pressing a pressing member toward themedicinal liquid to administer the medicinal liquid, a reusable-sidepower transmission part to which the driving force from the drivingsource is transmitted, a housing that houses the reusable-side powertransmission part, the housing having an opening part configured suchthat the reusable-side power transmission part is partially exposed fromthe housing, an openable and closable cover part located at the openingpart of the housing, and a pushing member configured to push the coverpart into a closed state; and a disposable part that is attachable toand detachable from the reusable part, the disposable part comprising:the medicinal liquid container, the pressing member, a disposable-sidepower transmission part configured to engage with the reusable-sidepower transmission part upon attachment of the reusable part to thedisposable part, and to transmit to the pressing member the drivingforce transmitted from the driving source to the reusable-side powertransmission part, and a contact part configured to contact the coverpart; wherein, when the disposable part is attached to the reusablepart, the contact part contacts the cover part so as to cause the coverpart to be opened and maintained in an opened state while resistingpushing force of the pushing member; and wherein, when the disposablepart is detached from the reusable part, the cover part is closed by thepushing force of the pushing member so as to block the opening part. 2.The medicinal-liquid administering device according to claim 1, wherein:the cover part is rotatably mounted on the housing via a shaft; and thepushing member is configured to push the cover part into the closedstate by applying the pushing force to the cover part along acircumferential direction of the shaft.
 3. The medicinal-liquidadministering device according to claim 2, wherein: the reusable-sidepower transmission part comprises an output gear configured to rotatedue to the driving force from the driving source; the output gear ispartially exposed from the housing via the opening part when the coverpart is in the opened state; and the disposable-side power transmissionpart comprises an input gear configured to mesh with the output gear. 4.The medicinal-liquid administering device according to claim 3, wherein:the reusable part comprises an attachment part to which the housing isattached, and which covers the disposable part; the shaft is located ona side closer to the attachment part than to the opening part; and thecover part is configured to open toward the attachment part side whenthe disposable part is attached to the reusable part.
 5. Themedicinal-liquid administering device according to claim 4, wherein:when the disposable part is attached to the reusable part, in analigning direction in which the output gear and the input gear arealigned, either (i) an axis of the shaft is located at the same positionas a rotation axis of the output gear, or (ii) an axis of the shaft islocated at a side opposite to a side where the input gear is locatedwith respect to the rotation axis of the output gear; and when thedisposable part is attached to the reusable part, in the aligningdirection, a portion of the cover part that contacts the contact partfirst at a time of attaching the disposable part to the reusable part islocated on the side where the input gear is located with respect to therotation axis of the output gear.
 6. The medicinal-liquid administeringdevice according to claim 3, wherein: the disposable-side powertransmission part comprises: a rotation shaft that is coaxially with theinput gear, and a bearing that rotatably supports the rotation shaft;and the contact part is located on the bearing.
 7. The medicinal-liquidadministering device according to claim 2, wherein: the pushing memberis a torsion spring comprising a coil and first and second extended endparts extending from the coil; the shaft is located in an internal holeof the coil; and the first extended end part is locked to the housingand the second extended end part is locked to the cover part.
 8. Themedicinal-liquid administering device according to claim 1, wherein thecover part is pushed onto a wall surface of the housing by the pushingforce of the pushing member when the cover part is in the closed state.